The Motivation for the Crucifixion of Jesus
Why was Jesus executed? In answering this question in historical terms, we must first look at the events leading up to his arrest and ultimately, his execution. We know that Jesus performed that symbolic gesture of 'cleansing'; the temple, by overturning the money changers tables, and most believe that this act was symbolic of destruction, not purification. Paula Fredrickson, author of From Jesus to Christ writes: 'Through this disruptive gesture, Jesus symbolically enacted the enpending apocalyptic destruction of the Temple…that God's kingdom was at hand.'; So basically, his gesture, as Fredrickson states: 'would have been readily understood by any Jew watching, as a statement that the Temple was about to be destroyed by God, and accordingly that the present order was about to cede to the Kingdom of God.';
So in doing this, Jesus obviously made a lot of people mad. Most obviously were the chief priests in the temple because he did it during Passover (one of the holiest holidays), knowing Pontius Pilate was around for crowd control, and to announce so liberally that the freedom of their people was at hand, would incite a threat to the Roman stronghold. It is known that Pontius Pilate was not a nice guy to begin with, and he was not happy to be in Jerusalem during its most crowded time of the year. Passover is a holiday celebrating the Jews freedom from slavery, so he was there as crowd control. Paula Fredrickson states in an interview: 'He had a reputation for crucifying untried prisoners…Pilate was legally responsible to be in Jerusalem when it was most crowded. He was in a bad mood already when he got into town…hearing that someone was a trouble maker would be enough.'; So all he needed to do was find someone to take his frustrations out on. Enter Jesus. The priests basically handed him over to Pilate. In the gospel of Luke, the priests call Jesus a blasphemer. Was he turned over to Pilate because of their desire to keep the peace, or was it out of jealousy that maybe Jesus knew something they didn't, or was it merely out of ignorance? There is no evidence that he committed some blasphemy, so he was handed over to Pilate for what? He was a threat to the priests' stronghold over the temple, if Jesus was right, then there would be no need for them.
He kept saying that it had to do with what he felt the Lord wanted him to do for his fellow slave friends, but I do not feel like he was completely right in the head and I feel like he needed to do what he did for his own well-being. He obviously thought he was serving the Lord by doing so, but when you think about it logically you cannot declare someone right in the mind after something like this. Committing horrendous murders as an act to show the Lord how you think you have to serve him is completely contradictory. He could have used the whole “Lord’s will” as an excuse for his wrongful actions, but why else would he have any reason to kill these people if they had not done him
Historical evidence points to Jesus being executed according to Roman law, for Roman reasons; crucifixion was reserved for slaves, non-citizens, dangerous criminals, and those who sought to oppose the government, sometimes occurring in large groups
Christ and the Cross is a false dichotomy that exists in the church today. Many Church leaders today are saying that the Cross is not necessary. They tend to separate the two, but Christians without the Cross is like Christianity without Christ. Which means, there can be no Christianity without the Cross and the Christ of the Cross. Many of them are saying that the Cross should not even been emphasize; that the Cross is a form of idolatry; that the Cross is an inconceivable child abuse; and some of the leaders even have gone to the extreme. However, Christians need to understand the necessity of the Cross for their Salvation. Because, “Through Christ’s death on the cross, those who turn to Him are delivered from both the penalty and the power of sin.” (1 Peter 2:24)
... and put this on his head. They mocked him by bowing down to him chanting, Hail, King of the Jews (New J Bib, 1181). He was then led off to be crucified. Above his head they placed the charge against him, which read, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews (New J Bib, 1181). At that point in time, rebels were crucified and this was a standard method. Ultimately, the Romans considered Jesus as a rebel following from his actions and crucified him as a method of punishment (Prof. Trum).
John 18:39- but it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release `the king of the Jews'?"King of Jews- He's not the king of the Jews, He's slapping them in the face.The same thing Jesus was being accused of Barnabbas did.JN 19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. [2] The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe [3] and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face.Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.This is your Messiah people, this is not VBS, or bible study, this is the Messiah that is in love with you.MT 27:27 Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him.
Violence is a recurring theme for many stories, particularly in the York Play of the Crucifixion and Beowulf. The York Play of the Crucifixion went into detail of the soldiers’ task to crucify Jesus. Violence was a reflection of their job and of the times at hand. Beowulf is a heroic story of how one man concurred many monsters, his violent acts made him superior to others, making him a great King. This glorified him amongst the people. These two stories utilize violence in different aspects, while at the same time uniting their enjoyment to inflict more pain to their adversaries.
Nearly two thousand years ago, according to the biblical record, Jesus walked the land of Palestine ministering to the people with signs and wonders before meeting his end by crucifixion. Some historians and scholars say that Jesus was a dangerous insurrectionist that got himself executed by the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate. Others revere Jesus as one of the many prophets that were sent by God to the Jewish nation. Many more believe that he was the son-of-god who came to earth on a mission to pay the penalty for the sins of the human race and bring
In the New Testament the right of the State to put criminals to death seems to be taken for granted. Jesus himself refrains from using violence. He rebukes his disciples for wishing to call down fire from heaven to punish the Samaritans for their lack of hospitality (Luke 9:55). Later he admonishes Peter to put his sword in the scabbard rather than resist arrest (Matthew 26:52). At no point, however, does Jesus deny that the State has authority to exact capital punishment. In his debates with the Pharisees, Jesus cites with approval the apparently harsh commandment, "He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die" (Matthew 15:4; Mark 7:10, referring to Exodus 2l:17; cf. Leviticus 20:9). When Pilate calls attention to his authority to crucify him, Jesus points out that Pilate's power comes to him from above-that is to say, from God (John 19:11).
One aspect of his teaching that brought adverse attention to him was his repeated assertion that he was the Son of God sent to the Earth to redeem humankind. This was in direct violation of Jewish law. For this he was condemned to die. Betrayed by one of his apostles, Judas, Jesus did not resist his imprisonment he saw it as the fulfillment of his purpose.
The best source of information about crucifixions comes from the four Gospels. But another valuable source of information about the practice of crucifixion is ancient Greek and Roman literature. The Greeks and Romans did not write about crucifixion a lot but, they wrote about it often enough to give important information about this method of execution.
In the narrative in which Pilate is named, Pilate's father, who can't read, lets the Bible fall open and points to a set of lines that look agreeable to him. It just so happens that the word spelled out by those lines is "Pilate," the name of the Roman who turns Jesus over to be crucified. The midwife attending at Pilate's birth asks the father if he really wants to name the child after the person who killed Jesus, and the father replies, "I asked Jesus to save me my wife," and he continues, "I asked him all night long" (19). Yet his wife wasn't saved, and Pilate's father feels...
Jesus Christ or the professed Jewish Messiah was tried for terrible blasphemy. It was a great catastrophe. Had Jesus given a fair trial then His claim for divine Messiahship would have been established. Unfortunately the laws were bent and the eyes were closed and thus a fair judgment was prevented. There is no doubt that this was the most terrible miscarriage of justice ever experienced by the mankind. In open court it was admitted by Jesus Christ that He was God in human flesh. What ever would happen one day He would appear as the King of the most sacred place that is Israel and finally of all the universe. It was surprising that His trial ended abruptly and a decision of guilt was announced unanimously. Blasphemy was the main charge, which was leveled against Him. It was claimed that He presented Himself with the characteristics of Jehovah. Now the question arises if Jesus Christ was really the Messiah as was declared in the Old Testament. If this statement was true, then the Jews had no right to have a trial of Jesus Christ and give Him the verdict. If this was not proved than the Jews had no other alternative but to follow their Scriptures and impose death on Jesus Christ. It is estimated that about 30 points of Jewish civil rights came under violation while the trial of Jesus was conducted. It seems very strange that people of that caliber in learning and legal experts could blunder so badly. It has been happening from centuries that the Jews have been accused for killing Jesus. The Christians have been using this accusation to persecute and murder innocent Jews. Jews were driven out of Flanders, which is a part of Belgium now, in 1121. Jews were told to convert to Christianity or die during the conquer of Spain. The bi...
One of the most common arguments about The Passion is that it is focused on the intentional blaming of the Jews for the death of Jesus Christ. Throughout the movie, and in particular the scenes where he is held before Pontius Pilate and Caiaphus, Jesus is berated and blamed for blasphemy by his own people, a notion that is not explicitly talked about within the Bible. It is obvious in the movie and the Bible though, that Jesus has no bad intentions or threats to anybody, yet he becomes the enemy. The implied reason for this is that the Jews rejected Jesus and God. But why are the ideas of love and freedom that Jesus is promoting, in the movie and the Bible, so evil and unacceptable according to the people and high priests? At most of t...
Jesus (Robinson 1). The guards and everyone, including Pilate, observed Jesus and saw that he
In conclusion I think that it is wrong to die for your beliefs in any